State Rep. Jay Barrows (R-Mansfield) has participated in each Republican convention since 1996.
“That was out in San Diego, then I went in 2000 to George Bush in Philadelphia," he recounted. "And then I went to Bush in 2004 and then in 2008 we were with Sen. McCain in Mineapolis … and now to have a governor in Massachusetts, the first Republican nominated for the presidency from the Republican party since 1921, that’s huge."
And that was Calvin Coolidge.
Barrows said he and the other delegates from Massachusetts are enjoying the attention that comes with the nomination: “It’s a great honor from going to sitting in the back row at all these conventions in past venues to now being in the front row, representing the state in which he was governor and doing a great job.”
Even though this is the biggest week in Romney's political career, State Rep. Jen Ferguson, delegate from Worcester, said there was still skepticism about Romney from other state delegations.
"They ask us about the Commonwealth and what it was like when Romney was there and the Romney years, and was it as terrible as sometimes you hear from the media and Obama," she said. "We have to counter that with 'No, it wasn’t,' and what Mitt was able to accomplish with a Democratic-controlled legislature.'”
Meanwhile, Democratic protesters in Boston are trying to get their message across. They’re sending a care package to the convention filled with blank IRS 1040 forms — a challenge for Romney to release his tax returns.
